Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress… James 1:27
Frustration and hopelessness are brewing as she cuts down the crops from this years’ harvest, each ear adding a bit of worry onto her already worn out face. A drought has killed the corn far before collection season and Samantha has run out of many options. Here in Malawi, she cannot sell the dried corn for feed, and so a summer of work is wasted; the sting of lost time in a pile on the red ground.
Small-scale farming hasn’t ever paid much, but it’s all Samantha Joseph has to support her 5 little children. Like the story of so many other young mothers in Malawi, her husband has left her and her young ones to fend for themselves. Samantha does all she can to keep food in everyone’s stomachs and a roof over their heads, but this drought is a huge disappointment; potentially a death sentence.
Malawi is, according to GDP, the poorest country on the planet. With the life expectancy in Malawi at 55, this is a country with 16 million people and over a million of them orphans. HIV continues to be a problem and basic shelter is hard to come by.
HOWMS is an organization that provides shelter for “the least of these”. With a focus on orphans, widows, single mothers and the elderly, it has provided around 25 homes for villagers around Lilongwe and has plans to build more. HOWMS has a holistic approach to poverty in that they use local labor, wood, sand, ox-karts, and bricks that are made in the village. This provides work and avoids dependency. The homes have a tin roof that last far longer than the plastic bags and grass that most of the recipients formerly used. The group waiting for houses are chosen by the local ministry Live Love, run by Blessings, a man who grew up in a local village. This organization supports village life, doing community outreach like sports ministries, women’s bible studies, and widow’s ministries.
The village of Mkanda is where Samantha Joseph and her children live, pictured below. They are a real family in real need of a stable shelter. Each home is only $800 to build and is quite life changing for a single mother who would only need to focus on food for her children. The ministry Live Love is abounding in support and community, but the fact remains that they do not have the financial resources to pay for these homes.
That is where you come in.
Would you join us this month in providing a home for a single mother and her 5 children?
Frustration and hopelessness are brewing as she cuts down the crops from this years’ harvest, each ear adding a bit of worry onto her already worn out face. A drought has killed the corn far before collection season and Samantha has run out of many options. Here in Malawi, she cannot sell the dried corn for feed, and so a summer of work is wasted; the sting of lost time in a pile on the red ground.
Small-scale farming hasn’t ever paid much, but it’s all Samantha Joseph has to support her 5 little children. Like the story of so many other young mothers in Malawi, her husband has left her and her young ones to fend for themselves. Samantha does all she can to keep food in everyone’s stomachs and a roof over their heads, but this drought is a huge disappointment; potentially a death sentence.
Malawi is, according to GDP, the poorest country on the planet. With the life expectancy in Malawi at 55, this is a country with 16 million people and over a million of them orphans. HIV continues to be a problem and basic shelter is hard to come by.
HOWMS is an organization that provides shelter for “the least of these”. With a focus on orphans, widows, single mothers and the elderly, it has provided around 25 homes for villagers around Lilongwe and has plans to build more. HOWMS has a holistic approach to poverty in that they use local labor, wood, sand, ox-karts, and bricks that are made in the village. This provides work and avoids dependency. The homes have a tin roof that last far longer than the plastic bags and grass that most of the recipients formerly used. The group waiting for houses are chosen by the local ministry Live Love, run by Blessings, a man who grew up in a local village. This organization supports village life, doing community outreach like sports ministries, women’s bible studies, and widow’s ministries.
The village of Mkanda is where Samantha Joseph and her children live, pictured below. They are a real family in real need of a stable shelter. Each home is only $800 to build and is quite life changing for a single mother who would only need to focus on food for her children. The ministry Live Love is abounding in support and community, but the fact remains that they do not have the financial resources to pay for these homes.
That is where you come in.
Would you join us this month in providing a home for a single mother and her 5 children?